Finally, some good news from Congress


Except it's not actually Congress who's doing it. But its good that they're going to have a "short-order" science department again, even if it's just for terror and national security. Ten years ago, under the Gingrich revolution, the congressional Office of Technology Assessment was "de-funded", or as we would say, shut down. Just when we were entering the heyday of extreme advances in computing and communication, Congress didn't have anyone to help guide them.

I know the Bush administration wouldn't want a nonpartisan scientific group going around issuing reports on pending legislation. Their attitude is "When science disagrees with policy, change the science." But maybe the next one will.


Linking Lawmakers, Scientific Knowledge: Congress will get a new source for information on the science of terrorism and national security under a $2.25 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation.

The money will go to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), and is designed to make it into a link between policymakers in need of scientific information and academics who might have it.

"We've heard a lot about how policymakers need advice on scientific issues related to terrorism," said Kennette M. Benedict, director of international peace and security for the MacArthur Foundation. "This is not so much about building capacity in this field, but in how to get the information to policymakers in a form they can use."

The new AAAS initiative will try to fill some of the void created when Congress abolished the Office of Technology Assessment eight years ago. Although the new center will not have a formal status like the technology office, Benedict said, it will try to offer similarly independent and nonpartisan scientific information.

"Lawmakers are often looking for authoritative and trustworthy information, and the center will connect them with it," she said. MacArthur is also providing $4.5 million this year to 15 universities around the world to research scientific aspects of the threats from biological, chemical and nuclear materials.

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